Social Democratic Party of Ukraine

The Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (SDPU) is a social democratic political party in Ukraine which was founded on 27 May 1990 during the Dissolution of the Soviet Union. The party was a major party during the 1990s, and Leonid Kravchuk and Leonid Kuchma were supported by the SDPU. Under Kuchma, the SDPU portrayed itself as a centrist, social democratic moderate political force that advocated integration with the European Union and supported the president. The SDPU's stronghold was Zakarpattia Oblast in the far west of the country, and, in 1998, it supported Ukrainian nationalism. However, it later opposed Viktor Yushchenko's coalition of liberal and nationalist movements, and, in 2004, it took a strongly pro-Russian and anti-Western stand and backed the candidacy of Viktor Yanukovych. Since the Orange Revolution of 2004, the party has been marginalized.